It Was a Busy D.W.I. Week

An East Hampton man was taken by helicopter to Stony Brook University Medical Center early Saturday morning after his car rolled over and smashed into a utility pole. Juan Velasquez, 28, had been heading east on Montauk Highway in a 1997 Ford. The accident occurred as he tried to make a sharp turn onto Skimhampton Road at about 5 a.m., according to an East Hampton Town Police report.
Officers responding found him bleeding slightly from a cut on his head. After helping him out of the wreck, police said, he was asked to take a breath test, which he failed. He was treated at Stony Brook for minor wounds, and a blood test there showed elevated alcohol content, according to the report. Charged with driving while intoxicated, he was taken to East Hampton Town Justice Court Sunday morning for arraignment before Justice Lisa Rana, showing no visible ill effects from the crash.
Mr. Velasquez told the court he was from Ecuador, and that he had lived in East Hampton for five years. When Justice Rana asked if he wanted to hire an attorney or use one that was court appointed, he said, “I don’t know. Which is better?”
Bail was set at $500.
Police responding to a call late Saturday night about a car parked the wrong way on Atwell Street ended up arresting William X. Anguisaca Garcia, 22, of East Hampton. When an officer approached the Mercury Cougar he was in, Mr. Anguisaca Garcia was reportedly talking on a cellphone with the engine running. He handed the officer an Ecuadorean passport when asked for identification. The police report states he failed roadside sobriety and breath tests and was charged with D.W.I., as well as driving with a suspended license. Bail was set the next morning at $500 by Justice Rana.
At 9:30 p.m. Saturday night, John B. Ciullo, 45, of East Hampton, made an illegal left turn onto Montauk Highway in Montauk, according to police. After speaking with him and administering sobriety and breath tests, all of which police said he failed, he was charged with driving while intoxicated. Standing in front of Justice Rana the next morning, hands manacled behind his back, Mr. Ciullo was represented pro bono by Stephen Grossman, who told the justice that Mr. Ciullo had a “significant presence in the community,” and asked that she release him on his own recognizance. The justice, saying that Mr. Ciullo had had a clean record for the past 30 years, granted Mr. Grossman’s request.
Walking back to the bench with the other accused men, still in handcuffs, Mr. Ciullo said, “I have to get a ride.”
Driving in the dark without headlights landed a Sag Harbor man in jail on a D.W.I. charge, Sag Harbor police said. David W. Hess was driving a 1997 Toyota on Main Street on Sunday at about 4:30 a.m. Not only were the car’s headlights off, but, police said, it was weaving down the road. Mr. Hess refused to take the standard roadside tests, according to police, and was placed under arrest and taken to headquarters to be arraigned in Sag Harbor later that morning.
Juan O. Munoz, 27, of East Hampton, was driving a blue Dodge Neon on Abraham’s Path a little before 3 a.m. on Saturday when police said he crossed the yellow line into oncoming traffic. The police report notes that he failed the roadside tests and was charged with drunken driving. Bail was set the next morning at $500 by Justice Rana.
Seth Arikian, 53, of Montauk, was also charged with drunken driving last week. He was pulled over a little after midnight Friday morning, according to police, but refused to take a breath test. Noting his longtime residence in the community, however, Justice Rana released him without bail.
At about 4 a.m. Friday morning, police also arrested Vincent Rom, 50, of East Hampton, on a D.W.I charge. Mr. Rom was driving a 2005 Ford when he allegedly crossed over the lines into oncoming traffic. He consented to, but failed, a breath test on the road, but refused to take another one after he was taken to the station, the report says. He was released on his own recognizance.
Late on the night of April 22, an officer stopped a 1996 Honda Civic being driven by Santiago Cedillo-Tlatelpa after he allegedly ran a stop sign and drove on the wrong side of the double yellow lines on Springs-Fireplace Road. Asked to step outside, the police report says he had to hold onto the side of the car to keep his balance. He, too, was charged with D.W.I., the report says, after a breath test at headquarters showed blood alcohol content of .17, more than twice the legal limit. His bail was set the next morning by Justice Catherine Cahill at $350.
At about 5 p.m. on April 24, police received a call from a driver warning them that a white van marked Ram Irrigation was weaving back and forth into oncoming traffic on Stephen Hand’s Path. The caller, apparently using a hands-free cellphone and following the van, told police the van turned onto Cedar Street and then onto North Main Street, and headed north on Three Mile Harbor Road. Alerted, an officer allegedly spotted the van doing 48 miles per hour in a 35 m.p.h. zone. It was stopped on Washington Avenue, where after being administered standard roadside tests, which police said he failed, Oswaldo Duarte of East Hampton, 46, was charged with drunken driving.
At headquarters, he failed another breath test, with a reading of .19, well over twice the legal limit, according to the report. Bail was set the next morning by Justice Cahill at $200.
An 18-year-old Montauk woman driving a 1999 Nissan was pulled over after making a turn onto Oak Street from Crystal Drive in Springs without signaling at about 5 a.m. on April 25, according to police. When the car was stopped, the report notes, an open bottle of Smirnoff vodka was in plain view. The young woman was reported to have failed roadside tests and to have shown an alcohol level of .11 after taking a second breath test at headquarters. Police did not release the her name because of her age, and she was released later that morning by Justice Cahill without bail.
This is the second arrest on drunken driving charges an under-age drinker made in the Springs area in the past three weeks in which there was an open bottle of Smirnoff in the front seat.

About the Author

T.E. McMorrow began freelancing for The Star in 2009, before coming on staff, full time, at the end of 2011. He is a member of the Drama Desk in New York. His book, “Nutcracker in Harlem,” illustrated by James Ransome, is scheduled for publication in the fall of 2016 by HarperCollins children’s division.